Fugitive Sought By Wife, Court And Fbi Is Caught

August 13, 1986|The Morning Call

A former Stroudsburg area insurance man, who had been living in the Swiss Alps while the FBI, Monroe County Court and his estranged wife wanted him back in the country, was apprehended by U.S. marshals over the weekend as he attempted to re-enter the United States in Derby Line, Vt.

Richard McClelland, 34, was taken into custody on a fugitive warrant for violating his federal probation as he tried to enter the country from Canada with his son, Erin, 6.

Jeff Jarvis, a deputy in federal court in Burlington, Vt., said Chief Judge Albert Coffrin ordered McClelland held without bail pending his return before federal Judge William Nealon in Scranton.

McClelland has been living in Switzerland since the sale of his Stroudsburg area insurance agencies for $1.99 million in 1982. McClelland left the country in violation of the terms of a two-year probation imposed by Nealon for income tax evasion.

McClelland also faces a Monroe CountyCourt action over alleged violation of an order giving Bonnie McClelland custody of all four of their children.

There also was a $2.1-million court judgment awarded to Engle-Hambright & Davies Inc., Lancaster, for fraud in the sale of the insurance agencies.

In February, McClelland told The Morning Call he had no intention of leaving Switzerland. He was living with his son in a chalet in a village called Villars near the French-Italian border.

Mrs. McClelland, who lives with the other three children in the Stroudsburg area, had asked Monroe County Court to order extradition for violation of the custody order. However, Swiss officials would not agree to do so, recognizing kidnapping, but not violation of a U.S. judge's order, as an extraditable offense.

McClelland's tax-related problems came to a head in February 1985, when he pleaded guilty to misrepresenting his income for 1981. He was placed on two years of probation, with the restriction that he was not to leave the country. A warrant was issued for his arrest in July 1985.

McClelland's other problem is the $2.1 million judgment against him regarding his handling of company funds at the insurance agency where he was employed. The owners of that firm told The Morning Call they believe McClelland took $1 million in company funds and deposited it in a Swiss bank.